EL HASKI v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 19 added that in many cases the statements had been signed or thumb-printed after the detainees had been transferred from the Témara centre to a police station, where they were threatened with being returned to Témara and with further torture should they refuse to comply. As to the treatment inflicted, Amnesty International explained as follows: “... The torture or ill-treatment has taken a number of forms during interrogation sessions. Some detainees have allegedly been blindfolded and handcuffed throughout the session; others have been stripped or suspended from the ceiling of the interrogation room in contorted positions. Many have reported being beaten around the body and the head with fists or an implement, such as a wooden stick or a metal ruler. Reports have also indicated that electricshock batons or live electrodes were applied to the body of some of the detainees. One former detainee, Abdellah Meski, told Amnesty International that he had his head repeatedly plunged into a sink containing water. Some have reportedly had an object, such as a bottle, forcibly inserted into the anus or been threatened with this treatment and other sexual abuse. Some say that they were also threatened with the arrest and rape or other sexual abuse of their wife or other female relative. Some former detainees have even reported hearing screams which they believed at the time might have been those of a female relative in an adjoining room, but later, after leaving the Témara centre and confirming that no female relative had been detained there, concluded this might have been a tape recording meant to dupe them. ... Former detainees have reported that, throughout their time at the Témara centre, whether for a few days or a few months, they were held in solitary confinement in basic cells, containing blankets on the floor rather than a bed, and a toilet and tap in one corner. They say they never saw other detainees and were not allowed outside the cell to enjoy fresh air or exercise. In addition, they were held in secret detention and denied contact with the outside world. Such conditions of detention may themselves amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or even torture. ...”. Amnesty International further noted that government officials had, in press interviews, stressed that no complaints were made about torture or illtreatment or secret detention when detainees were brought before the prosecutor after the police custody, explaining that if such complaints were made following the initial questioning they were dismissed as being merely a means of defence. On the first point, Amnesty International explained this situation by the fact, in particular, that the judicial authorities failed to inform the persons concerned of their right to be assisted by a lawyer and that, appearing alone, many were unaware that they were entitled to make such a complaint. On the second point, it criticised the judicial authorities’ attitude as follows: “... When, during the pre-trial investigation, they have appeared again before the examining magistrate for detailed questioning, they have in many cases complained about the alleged torture or ill-treatment or secret detention. When their cases have come to court, many of the accused have complained again, this time in front of the trial judges, about the treatment they were subjected to and the illegally prolonged nature of the period of garde à vue. Defence lawyers have requested that family members who witnessed the arrests and police officers who drew up the police